Seashells
by Nerva al'Thor
Summary: [Oneshot] Sora encounters a fourth Keyblade master.


_Dedicated to **Kenneth** and **Joan**, who play kick-ass **Sephiroth** and **Marluxia**._

_Like my other one-shot, **Tale of Dancing Flames**, pardon any upcoming inconsistency in this one. I have never played any of the Kingdom Hearts series, and anything you will read hereafter is purely a product of speculation and imagination. Please leave a review, it will greatly help me and it will be much appreciated._

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**Seashells**

---

Sora, in between Keyblade master duties, had always liked to bathe in the sea. The young brunette had always loved the sea and its seemingly endless horizon, along with its eternal blue and soft white foam. For him the sea was something that represented man's heart and capability for goodness – it was vast and infinite, bordered only by trivial pieces of land and islands.

Normally Riku and Kairi (or even Donald and Goofy) would be with him, but there were times that even Sora wanted to be alone. The boy's oversized shoes, shorts, shirt and pendant were left ashore, near a sandcastle he'd sculpted earlier.

The young Keyblade master was waist-deep in the sea, clad in nothing but boxers that were printed with what suspiciously looked like Mickey Mouse heads.

He'd been carefully moving about, bent over so that his nose was only a few inches from the water. He'd been busy collecting seashells to; already some fifteen beautiful conches were tucked on the sand beside his clothing, awaiting his further scrutiny for later.

Oh, and don't forget the starfish. There were some five starfishes on the beach, crawling out to sea while Sora had his back turned.

"Darn," Sora muttered as he straightened up. "I can't find the pink one from earlier..."

The boy turned his head and saw three starfish already entering the waters.

"Wah! Oi!"

Big splashes and splooshes could be heard as Sora dashed back to shore, scooping up the starfish as he went and depositing them on the sand castle that looked suspiciously like Castle Oblivion.

"I'll set you free later, but bear with me for now and stay, okay?"

"I did not know starfish could comprehend human speech nowadays."

The voice made Sora jump and turn his head. He was sure he'd been alone on the beach until now. A blue-haired youth with alluring purple eyes was sitting cross-legged on the sand, looking at him. He can't have been much older than Sora himself; he was wearing a black shirt and cream-colored shorts. He was barefooted. The boy's hair seemed to follow its own hairstyle; it tended more to the right side of his face so that his right eye was nearly invisible beneath all those blue strands.

"Hi!" Sora greeted brightly, picking up a starfish. "Been here long?"

The youth gave him an amused smile. "No. I've just arrived."

One could've at least thought Sora would be careful around strangers. But the Keyblade master had always been friendly and trusting – one of the reasons why the Key chose him in the first place.

"The sea's just right," Sora went on. "And the sun's not high up yet."

He was looking at the other boy's black shirt. Who on Twilight Town would wear a _black_ shirt on the beach?

"I can't swim." The boy answered.

Sora tilted his head sideways. The boy looked familiar but he couldn't quite put a finger to it. The starfish still in his hand, Sora trudged up to him so he could have a better look. The blue-haired boy looked up as he drew level.

Scratch the earlier thought that they could have been the same age; this close, the boy could have been Riku's age instead – maybe two years older max. He was skinny, skinnier than Sora in fact. This close too Sora could tell that his shirt was still several inches too loose for him. But his eyes were what made Sora stare. The Keyblade master had to admit that he had never seen such alluring purple before, never in all the worlds he'd visited.

"Starfish?"

He held out the sea creature to the blue-haired teen, who took it carefully. Sora thought that the boy's fingers were unnaturally cold, but he quickly pushed the thought away.

"_Protoreaster linckii_," the boy said. "Or more commonly known as the red-knobbed starfish. It earned its name from the red knobs on it." He used his left index finger to lightly poke the said knobs. Sora bent to see.

"I didn't know starfish had other names." Sora said. "I call them all starfish." He wrinkled his nose.

"It can be quite tiresome to memorize their individual names." The boy dipped his head and handed the starfish back. For several moments they stared at each other's eyes. Sora felt his memory tickled, but he still could not find a name for this mysterious companion.

"Um..." the Keyblade master said, unsure of what to talk about.

"You bear the Keyblade, don't you?" The youth said.

Sora took an involuntary step back. "Yes. How do you know?"

The youth gave a smile that Sora could not read. "It takes one to know one, I expect."

That much Sora understood at least. His blue eyes widened.

"Eh? You're a Keyblade master too? Wow, I mean – but that is – that's _amazing_! I thought only there's three...oh, um..." He frowned at the thought of his Nobody, Roxas. Was it even proper to consider Roxas a separate person? "Um...well, two of us around!"

"Two of you?" the boy replied.

Sora gave an enthusiastic nod and plopped down beside the boy. "Yeah! My friend Riku and I both use Keyblades, you know? I thought only two of us can wield Keyblades now! Well, um, I expect aside from King Mickey that is..."

The other boy continued smiling his unreadable smile.

"So, what's your name?" Sora demanded eagerly, extending a hand. "I'm Sora, by the way! This is so cool, will that mean you'll going to journey around with us soon?"

But the boy only glanced at Sora's offered hand and didn't take it.

"I...don't really have a name anymore." He answered carefully.

"Eh? How can that be? How does someone lose their name?"

"...well..."

"Bah, forget it then!" Sora grabbed the boy's hand anyway and shook it. The sudden contact came as a shock – if Sora thought the boy's fingers were just cold, it was ice cold upon touch. Because of this, Sora let go at once. "What, have you been holding ice?"

"My apologies."

"Tell you what, let's go look for shells instead. I'm collecting a few to show to my friends later, you know. You could help me. We'll only wade far out until knee-level if you want."

"...all right."

Sora grabbed the boy's hand again and pulled him to his feet. He dragged him to the open sea, where they spent the rest of the afternoon poking around for seashells and more starfish. Just to keep things going, Sora talked and talked, telling his companion about his adventures in the different worlds and his encounters with Heartless and Nobodies. But he could have been talking to the wind for all the replies he received from his blue-haired and purple-eyed companion.

---

They didn't see each other again until three weeks later. Upon sighting the familiar blue head, Sora quickly left the sea and met up with his 'friend', gesturing wildly with another starfish as he complained on how he'd waited for days and days for any sight of the blue-haired youth.

"My apologies. I had been busy doing research."

Sora stopped his flailing and blinked. "Research?"

The blue-haired youth gave a nod. "I work as a research assistant in a laboratory."

"Ah! Science?" Sora said.

"Yes."

"I see, I see. Well, come on, I've found other kinds of starfish for you to identify! There was a really big one the other day – I had to drag it out the sea but then I let it go when I knew you weren't going to show up."

"My apologies."

Fifty different kinds of starfish were lined up on the shore, all of which the blue-haired youth identified without even batting an eyelash. Sora was beside himself with admiration for his mysterious friend. He then asked if the youth could identify fishes too. When the youth nodded his assent, Sora all but tumbled around him in excitement.

Like before, Sora did much of the talking, telling his friend about his different Keyblades and showing him each one, with a matching story as to how he got the said Keyblade. His companion only nodded and smiled as Sora talked and talked. The most Sora managed to get out of the blue-haired youth was a bored-sounding "Ah!".

Sora didn't really know how the blue-haired teen appeared, or where he stayed. When he was there, Sora always started forgetting to ask him what his name was and where he lived, whether he had other friends or not. Despite the one-sidedness of their relationship, Sora enjoyed being with the mysterious boy. Sora believed this was because they were both Keyblade masters and had something in common.

In the second month, Sora brought Riku and Kairi along in the hopes of introducing them to his friend. They waited from sunup to sundown, but the blue-haired youth did not appear.

---

Sora brought sea-salt ice pops that day and handed the second one to his friend. Finally after almost three months of persuasion, Sora managed to convince his friend to come with only his shorts on. His earlier guess had been correct – the teen was a bit too skinny for his age. He was also unnaturally pale under his shirt, as if he didn't get enough sunlight. Sora had spent two sea-salt ice pops comparing their skin color alone, marveling at how the other boy had a complexion almost enough to shame porcelain.

"I told you its good. Don't you have sea-salt ice pops where you live?" Sora said as he reached into the cooler he dragged along for another ice pop for his friend.

"My apologies. Ice pops are a luxury where I live." The blue-haired youth gave a dip of his head.

Sora licked at his ice cream and frowned. "You always say 'My apologies'. I find it very...um..distracting."

"My...oh, ah...I am sorry."

"So." Sora said. "How many Heartless and Nobodies have you encountered?"

The blue-haired youth took a long time to answer. Sora had already finished his ice pop when he replied.

"I only encountered four Heartless in all of my time as a Keyblade master." He replied. "I've long since stopped being a Keyblade master. The Key called to me, but I ignored it until it was too late. It moved on to select a new bearer. That's you."

Sora stopped his licking of the cold treat and turned to his companion. As always, the youth's face was unreadable. It was not the first time that Sora wished he'd show more emotion.

"Ignored...the key?" Sora repeated.

His friend gave a nod and resumed sucking on his own ice pop. "You see, when the Key calls to you, you don't ignore it. It only calls those with pure hearts and strong minds. Fail to heed the Key's call and..."

"And...?"

"...and you tend to...regret things."

"Huh? I don't understand." Sora said. What exactly happened when you ignored the Key? And he never knew you could actually refuse being a Keyblade master. King Mickey never told him about anyone being Keyblade master before him.

"Sora, you've showed me all of your Keyblades. I think it is time I showed you mine."

"REALLY? Oh wow!"

The blue-haired youth rose and raised his right hand. Instead of white light, dark shadows curled down his arm and concentrated between his fingers. Sora watched open-mouthed as the shadows writhed and twisted, and then lengthened. Then, like glass shattering, they revealed an exquisite Keyblade colored black and silver that looked so much like Oblivion Sora had to blink twice at it.

"This is my Keyblade." The blue-haired youth said, hefting it. "I call it Doppelganger."

Sora rose too. "Can I touch it?"

"Of course."

Doppelganger felt light and warm in Sora's hands. He gave it a few tries before handing it back to its owner, but the blue-haired youth did not take it.

"Why's it called Doppelganger?" Sora asked.

"It gives the holder the ability to mimic his opponent's weapons and the powers of that weapon."

"Really? Cool!"

"Do you like it?"

"Doppelganger? Sure! I've never heard of a Keyblade that copies -!"

"Then it's yours."

"Wha-?"

Sora looked up at his friend. For the first time, an emotion showed on that unreadable face. Something that reminded him of Hope...

"But..." Sora looked at Doppelganger in his hand. It glittered like silver and obsidian. "But..."

"Sora, I'm no longer a Keyblade master. You have more need of that now than I do. I'm sure the Doppelganger wouldn't have a better master."

"Well, I..."

"Don't make the same mistake that I did, Sora. You'll regret it."

Sora looked up, and they stared at each other again for a long, long time.

"All right. I accept this Keyblade."

"Thank you, Sora."

"Eh? Why are you thanking me? I should be the...wha? Hey! Hey, where are you?! HEY!"

Sora ran back and forth on the shore that afternoon and well into the night, but there was no sight of the blue-haired youth with the purple eyes anywhere. In the end Sora was forced to go home, lugging Doppelganger with him.

"Eh, I guess I can thank him again when I see him." He shrugged and hefted his new Keyblade. "Cool...I can't wait to show you to Riku!"

The Keyblade master broke into a run toward home.


End file.
